demons

The parchment sealed, Elmyra hobbled outside on tired legs. Wind breezed cold on her face, forcing her to squint as she walked to the small pigeon coop off to the side of her hut. Sunshine felt far away. A fluttering of wings and a bit of twine send the parchment into the sky, and old eyes stare after it. Ancient eyes.

One pair of eyes belonged to the Elmyra. The others? Well.

The bird wasn’t the fastest bird, or the most graceful. But it was the only bird Elmyra Cairon had. The others had fallen to the last winter, and she didn’t care to buy more.

She didn’t believe that she would be around much longer.

The bird fluttered along above the treeline, clumsily gaining altitude. Its yellow-red eyes stared out, blinking quickly. Were it a human, it would wonder if it was able to make it. But instinct drove the bird higher. Farther. The pigeon may not have been graceful, or fast — but it was old and reliable.

The parchment staggers its stride, but pigeon pride ensures that it reaches its destination just in time.

Finally able to descend, our pigeon makes an exhausted dive down toward the treeline, leaving what was left of the sun disappearing behind the Zephyr Mountains and entering the cool of the shade. It seemed to breathe a heavy sigh, swooping to land on the arm of a tall and lanky elf. The man gave a chuckle as he untied the paper from the bird’s quivering leg.

“Ch’arleh, a message came for us. Judging from the bird, its probably your mother.”

A snort-laugh came from a cave entrance behind the tall elf. The sound of a sword sliding into a sheath was followed by a whet-stone thudding on a wood table. Ch’arleh came out, auburn hair pulled into a high ponytail.

“That’s definitely my mother’s bird.” He picked it up gently and stroked its head. The bird cooed pleasantly. “She’s had this thing for as long as I can remember. Its time is almost up though.”

He set the bird onto a branch, and it sat and stared at him as he took the parchment back into the damp cave. Ducking to get into the opening, he stood and walked long strides into the mountain. Candles perched wherever they could, casting dancing shadows over shelves of scroll and tome. The oaken chair that used to be his father’s waited patiently for him, and he sat with a grunt. Cracked wax and rustled paper revealed the words with familiar handwriting:

Halharken East of the Zephyrs and travelling Westward.

Among them is one of your cousins from your father’s side and a human noble.

He has some understanding of the arcane.

Something is not right, son. Please be careful. With love,

Your Öntarii

Ch’arleh stared at the parchment for a long time, feeling its rough texture between his fingers.

How much magic did she use to get this information?

He shook the concern over his mother aside and set his mind to work. He had little cause to worry for her, considering his plan. The Halharken have exposed themselves on this side of the Zephyrs during the peace.

“Hmph. Peace indeed.” He whispered to himself. Action needed to be taken. If the Halharken were here, it meant that the Crown was willing to risk exposing itself. What made this risk worthwhile?

“J’imh! Send word to the outposts to recall their troops back here.” Ch’ar shouted into the mouthpiece of a wooden tube that ran from beside his chair, along the ceiling and to the mouth of the cave. He removed his hair, and let it hang down to his shoulders. The flickering darkness intensified as the smallest breeze toys with the candles. A poison breeze that comes from within the cave. From the shadows themselves. Ch’arleh smiles to his invisible allies, whispering words that allows their dark energy to flow through him. Words neither human, elven, or even ancient orc.

He felt electric as his hairs seemed to throb with hungry power, standing on end. A power no one knew of but him. Not even his dear, sweet mother.

A fluttering of wings outside disappeared into the darkening woods, calling his Ravens. Ch’arleh opened a scroll he had read dozens of times before — a scroll that had the language he spoke inscribed in harsh, foul-looking scribbles. Scribbles that seemed to shift and change to an untrained eye.

The symbols surrounded an image of a particularly evil-looking mask. He mouthed the words that titled the forbidden paper to himself with a smile:

“Khosst Am’ojaan”

Robert and Omar smiled at each other and took a swig of their water at the same time. The plan they devised was perfect. They finished with just enough time for the sun to retire and for a crescent moon to rise. With the Halharken keeping guard around the makeshift campground, they both felt comfortable enough to get their rest. They needed it in the day to come. Omar fell asleep instantly, soft snores oozing from a wiry beard.

Hours passed, and the sliver of moon crept slowly above. Robert tossed and turned on the hard ground. He stood with a frustrated sigh. Maybe a walk would calm his nerves.

The Halharken were notoriously silent and so Robert did his best to match as he walked. The night itself seemed to absorb sound, as even the insects held their breath. He felt lonely even though he knew he was under guard. Finally, he saw a hooded figure standing next to a thick tree trunk. Thinking some small talk might just bore him enough to sleep, Robert strode to the silhouette of his guardian.

“A quieter night I have never seen. And yet I cannot sleep,” Robert softly spoke as he walked up. “How goes your watch, tracker?”

Silence replied from the leaning figure. a beat passed and Robert froze where he stood.

“…Tracker?”

More silence.

He kept his distance as he circled around wide, hand on the pommel of his weapon. A cloud passed over the waning crescent moon, stealing what little light there was. The hood still obscured the face of the figure as he came to stand in front. Roberts nerves were frayed and he shouted over his own thundering heart:

“Speak or I will cut you down!”

The figure jerked suddenly, no longer leaning against the thick oak.

“Oh, Gods! Sir! I apologize, I must have fallen asleep.” The man sheepishly admitted. Robert breathed a sigh of frustrated relief and chuckled as he looked down.

“You scared the iron from my blood!” Looking back up Robert saw the man’s face. Young. Eyes bulging in terror. Robert’s mouth hung open – unable to speak – as he saw a thin line appear across the youth’s throat. A thin line grew thicker and began to spray blood as his head rolled from his shoulders. The head plopped to the ground and rolled enough for the bulging eyes to reflect the light of the moon peeking back out from the clouds. The body remained standing perfectly upright.

Robert steeled his stomach against the urge to projectile vomit and drew his blade with a practiced hand. Glances around him revealed no one. Nothing. The headless body still stood with an eerie stiffness.

Like this:

Jason Gathers looked back at the colonies being pulled into Earth’s gravity as he began to prime the small craft for a long burn. Fire spread around the O’ Neill cylinders like fearsome flowers, orange mingling with yellow and red with a terrible fury. The screams of millions of people burning alive went unheard as his engine spun up, and he felt a heavy sorrow grow inside his chest.

“I wish she could have seen this with me. Who knew that revenge could be beautiful?” Jason softly slurred to himself. “Her hair was the same color when the sun shined just right.” He felt a small pride that he had turned a group of exploited slave laborers into an efficient task force. Each of their charges detonated at the right time, at all the right places. The Earth’s gravity did the rest.

“They were good men…” He whispered to the memory of his wife. “Friends, even. But we all made sacrifices for this cause.” As his engine kicked into gear and the long burn began, the charges he had secretly placed on their vessels exploded and destroyed all evidence of their involvement. Shadows watched, pleased with the dark fruits of their labor. Their suggestions in this universe have climaxed to this result. A beacon he had dropped into orbit began an automatic broadcast on all channels, which had previously been completely jammed.

“People of Earth. Escape while you can. We are here to bring a new age to humanity. We are here to show you that Earth is too small and too fragile a basket to put all of our eggs in. We have played in this cradle for too long, and despite our advances the Earth cannot thrive under the weight of all of us. Look above you, now. See the terror the Republic and the Consortium have created. They are destroying the colonies, and their sloppy work creates more destruction for the people on Earth, while they hide comfortably in their shelters. They do not care for those in space. We are expendable to them. Rise up, and leave now. We need your help to achieve humanity’s destiny, to spread our civilization to the stars. Come, join us and prosper together in space. Or stay, and die.”

Robert cried, his imagination showing him images of chaos in the major cities. People fighting over each other to leave Earth. Soldiers struggling to keep control and to keep their fingers from their triggers. His wife alone in a crowd, trying to herd a group of small children. There was almost no way for them to get out in time. Not with an entire city trying to evacuate. Hope was translucent, faint as a whisper in a thunderstorm. If the colonies roaring into the atmosphere did not create the panic, then that broadcast that just played over the intercom certainly would.

In the cockpit, Jason’s accomplice cried too. He was frustrated with his cause, knowing now that the people they condemned to die on Earth were mostly innocent. There was no way to contact command and to call off Axis’ descent. It probably had too much momentum anyway. It could not be stopped. Something else was bothering him. Racking his brain, he could not remember why Jason ordered him to kidnap Robert James Lowman. He couldn’t even remember the orders. The shadows stared through him with smug, obsidian smiles. They knew why. Confused and isolated with his guilt, he programmed the autopilot to take Robert to the hidden fleet behind Axis, and sat back in his seat. He stared at the blockade of ships in front of him that ignored this shuttle, turning to face the ancient celestial demon that doomed their home world. Flashes erupted silently as he coasted above their firing solution.

“Useless.” He mouthed silently and put the small, silenced gun in his mouth and pulled the trigger. His body recoiled, and floated up. Blood and brain vibrated strangely in zero gravity as the shadows laughed, dancing along with the crimson bubbles. Whispers filled the cabin as the man’s dead body floated and dreamed of another universe. Whispers from shadows that were always watching in pleasure.

Robert had moved ahead to the front of the craft to take Omar’s body and give it some semblance of respect by covering his dead face with his coat and placing it in a seat. Robert could hear the raspy conversation, and stifling his tears he drifted toward the cockpit to investigate. He gasped when he opened the door, seeing the corpse floating in the same moment as the whispers went silent.

“I must be going fucking crazy.” Robert muttered to himself. He put himself in the pilot’s seat after softly pushing the corpse down and behind the chair. Robert had no sorrow for this terrorist, regardless of his situation. The only thoughts he could think were of Linda, horrified on the planet’s surface as humanity’s impending doom coasted toward them. Remembering some basic flight controls, he began to flip switches and tried to move the yoke. It was stuck in its programming, and he was unable to move the controls. A notice flashed on the instrument panel:

PLEASE ENTER THE PASSWORD TO ACCESS FLIGHT CONTROL.

‘Password’ did not work. ‘Guest’ did not work. Robert slammed his fist in frustration on the flashing screen, which also did not work. To the pleasure of the darkness, he was trapped in this thing on its way to the last place he wanted to be. He pushed himself back into the cabin, searching for the escape pods in the back. Their doors had been welded shut. Probably a preemptive move by the terrorist to stop any escape. Without options, Robert glided to the seats on the right, resigned to gazing down at the tracers within the barrage of hot steel. Suddenly the front of the asteroid appeared underneath the shuttle, and he could see that the U.E.R.’s attack was barely whittling away at the surface. The explosions were probably gigantic, but the sheer size of the asteroid made it useless.

“Useless”, Robert muttered angrily. He stared down at his elder, the massive stone rolling beneath him. Pockmarked with craters, the ancient drifted underneath the craft for what felt like ages. He tried to look off to see the edge, but the immense rock stretched out to blend with the darkness of space. There were abandoned structures that dotted the landscape, old mining bases probably. Finally the end of the space boulder appeared, and he could see mammoth thrusters that were darkened and cold. Without realizing it, Robert had been crying this whole time, tears filling the space around his face. He was startled into a scream as the V.I.’s voice broke the silence:

“Please buckle your seat-belts and prepare to dock. We have arrived at our programmed destination. Thank you for flying with The Consortium, where your comfort is our priority.”

Docking clamps loudly clamped onto the side, shockingly fast after this announcement. He looked out the window and he could see dozens of ships surrounding the shuttle. They were older transport craft, dirty and outdated looking. There were massive guns on each of them, and he knew that they must have been jury-rigged to become a fighting force. He saw the space around him disappearing as the shuttle was brought into a docking bay of a much larger ship. Steel and chrome shined beneath the lighting inside as he saw the name of the craft painted high above the deck and the walkways. The U.E.R.’s Gwaden. The old ship thought to have been lost over 20 years ago on a deep-space patrol now closed around him.

The shuttle’s movement ceased with an iron screech as Robert’s heart pounded in his chest. Who knows what these rebels would do to him? They would probably think he killed the pilot. He floated up and hid in an overhead compartment, not able to stop tears welling up in his eyes. He was completely hidden, but he was not alone. His fear was with him. The shadows were with him, keeping him company. And he could hear their gleeful whispers. He squeezed his eyes shut, forcing himself to fill his mind with his wife’s beautiful face.

Linda…

Suddenly he was seeing flashes of her in places they had never been. Like lightning illuminating a darkened art gallery. A beach at night somewhere, walking from a strange automobile that hadn’t been relevant for generations. The same car at a 20th century drive-in theater.

What are these memories?

He had no time to think more, as he heard the airlock start to open with a hiss and the creaking of metal.